GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Bethany Christian Services has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Michigan alleging religious discrimination.
The Grand Rapids-based agency said the state denied it critical funding due to Bethany’s renewed enforcement of a long-standing Christians-only hiring mandate.
“For the first time since Bethany began serving refugees in Michigan in 1962 and became a contractor of the state of Michigan in 1981, the organization has been denied refugee-resettlement services contracts because of their religious employment practices, even though federal law has long supported this civil right,” wrote Bethany in a news release announcing the federal lawsuit.
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The entity that denied the funding, the Office of Global Michigan, is housed within the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth (LEO).
A spokesperson for LEO declined comment on the issue due to the pending litigation.
In late 2023, Target 8 heard from Bethany employees who were outraged over the agency’s announcement that there would be no exemptions going forward to its policy of hiring Christians only.